High outlet density power distribution unit

ABSTRACT

Systems and apparatuses are provided in which outlets are coupled to a power distribution unit (PDU) or PDU module in various configurations. The outlets may be coupled to a recessed surface within a PDU housing. The outlets may be coupled to a printed circuit board that is at least partially disposed within the PDU housing. The outlets may extend away from the recessed surface or printed circuit board towards or beyond a front face of the PDU housing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/577,968, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,133,626, entitled “HIGH OUTLET DENSITYPOWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT,” filed Sep. 20, 2019, which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/418,255, entitled “HIGH OUTLETDENSITY POWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT,” filed Jan. 27, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No.10,424,844, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/687,670, entitled “HIGH OUTLET DENSITY POWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT,”filed Apr. 15, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,583,902, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/073,769, nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,484,692, entitled “HIGH OUTLET DENSITY POWERDISTRIBUTION,” filed Nov. 6, 2013, which claims the benefit of andpriority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/723,065, entitled“HIGH OUTLET DENSITY POWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT,” filed Nov. 6, 2012, theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is directed to power distribution units and, morespecifically, to a power distribution unit having a high density ofpower outputs.

BACKGROUND

A conventional Power Distribution Unit (PDU) is an assembly ofelectrical outlets (also called receptacles) that receive electricalpower from a source and distribute the electrical power to one or moreseparate electronic appliances. Each such PDU assembly has a power inputthat receives power from a power source, and power outlets that may beused to provide power to one or more electronic appliances. PDUs areused in many applications and settings such as, for example, in or onelectronic equipment racks. One or more PDUs are commonly located in anequipment rack (or other cabinet), and may be installed together withother devices connected to the PDU such as environmental monitors,temperature and humidity sensors, fuse modules, or communicationsmodules that may be external to or contained within the PDU housing. APDU that is mountable in an equipment rack or cabinet may sometimes bereferred to as a Cabinet PDU, or “CDU” for short.

A common use of PDUs is supplying operating power for electricalequipment in computing facilities, such as data centers or server farms.Such computing facilities may include electronic equipment racks thatcomprise rectangular or box-shaped housings sometimes referred to as acabinet or a rack and associated components for mounting equipment,associated communications cables, and associated power distributioncables. Electronic equipment may be mounted in such racks so that thevarious electronic devices (e.g., network switches, routers, servers andthe like) are aligned vertically, one on top of the other, in the rack.One or more PDUs may be used to provide power to the electronicequipment. Multiple racks may be oriented side-by-side, with eachcontaining numerous electronic components and having substantialquantities of associated component wiring located both within andoutside of the area occupied by the racks. Such racks commonly supportequipment that is used in a computing network for an enterprise,referred to as an enterprise network.

As mentioned, many equipment racks may be located in a data center orserver farm, each rack having one or more associated PDUs. Variousdifferent equipment racks may have different configurations, includingdifferent locations of and different densities of equipment withinracks. One or more such data centers may serve as data communicationhubs for an enterprise. As will be readily recognized, space withinequipment racks is valuable with maximization of computing resources forany given volume being desirable.

SUMMARY

The evolution of computing equipment is toward higher electricalefficiency and smaller volume, resulting in higher densities ofcomputing equipment within a rack that require an equivocal number ofpower outlets. For this reason, maximizing the density of outlets withina PDU is commercially advantageous. Present day commercially availableC13 and C19 receptacles are not designed to maximize the outlet densitywithin a PDU.

Apparatuses and devices are provided in the present disclosure thatallow for relatively high density configurations of outlets in PDUs thatmay also provide plug retention mechanisms. In some aspects, a powerdistribution unit may be provided with one or more outlet banks thathave a recessed surface relative to a front face of a PDU. A pluralityof outlets in some embodiments extend away from the recessed surface,but do not extend beyond a plane of the front face of the PDU. Theoutlets may be built into a tray, which in some embodiments may beair-tight with respect to the internal area of the PDU containingmeasurement and distribution equipment, thus allowing active coolingsolutions to more easily be employed as compared to traditional use ofconventional outlets, which typically are not air tight. The front faceof the PDU may include a lip that extends inwardly over a portion of therecessed surface and is adapted to engage with a plug retention tab thatextends from an arm of a plug that may be coupled with an outlet. Suchan assembly allows a power distribution unit to be placed in anequipment rack and coupled with an input power source, and withequipment located in the rack in a flexible and convenient manner.Clearances and dimensions of equipment racks may be modified to provideenhanced space usage, efficiency, and/or density in a facility.

In some aspects, one or more of the outlet banks in a PDU may include aplurality of outlets that are coupled with a flexible cord and extendaway from a front face of the PDU. The flexible cord coupled with eachoutlet may penetrate a recessed surface relative to the front face ofthe PDU. The flexible cord may be coupled with a power source in aninterior portion of the PDU housing. The interior portion of the PDUhousing may include space to receive a portion of the flexible cordthereby providing the ability to extend an associated outlet away fromthe front face of the PDU housing, and retract an outlet toward thefront face of the PDU housing. Such an assembly allows a powerdistribution unit to be placed in an equipment rack and coupled with aninput power source, and with equipment located in the rack in a flexibleand convenient manner. Having a flexible cord extending from a PDU givesthe ability to uniformly space the outlets along the length of the PDUwhich is desirable in that all the interconnecting cords coming from thecomputing equipment can be of equal length. Clearances and dimensions ofequipment racks may be modified to provide enhanced space usage,efficiency, and/or density in a facility.

In further aspects, one or more of the outlet banks in a PDU may includea plurality of outlets that are rotatably coupled relative to a PDUhousing. The outlet banks may include an outlet shaft housing thatreceives a cord coupled with each outlet and provides for rotation ofthe outlet relative to the PDU housing. An outlet enclosure housing iscoupled with the outlet shaft housing and couples the respective outletbank with the PDU housing. The cord associated with each outlet may becoupled with a power source in an interior portion of the PDU housing.The interior portion of the PDU housing may include space to receive aportion of the cord, thereby providing the ability to extend anassociated outlet away from the outlet enclosure housing and retract anoutlet toward the outlet enclosure housing, in addition to providing theability to rotate the outlet relative to the outlet enclosure housing.Such an assembly allows a power distribution unit to be placed in anequipment rack and coupled with an input power source, and withequipment located in the rack in a flexible and convenient manner. Suchan assembly lends itself to a compact design, that is modularlyconstructed, allowing rapid and highly variable configurations to berealized. Clearances and dimensions of equipment racks may be modifiedto provide enhanced space usage, efficiency, and/or density in afacility.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that thedetailed description that follows may be better understood. Additionalfeatures and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conceptionand specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Features whichare believed to be characteristic of the concepts disclosed herein, bothas to their organization and method of operation, together withassociated advantages will be better understood from the followingdescription when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.Each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration anddescription only, and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentinvention may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In theappended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a power distribution unit in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an outlet bank of some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a locking plug of according to various embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an outlet bank and associated locking plugs coupledwith the outlet bank according to various embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an outlet bank of another embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates an outlet bank with retractable outlet assembliesaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates a power distribution unit with rotatable outlets inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates a portion of the PDU depicted in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 illustrates an outlet bank assembly with rotatable outletsaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating an outlet connector accordingto a representative embodiment;

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the outlet shown inFIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a side view in elevation of the outlet connector shown inFIGS. 10 and 11;

FIG. 13 is a front view in cross-section of the outlet connector takenabout line 13-13 in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a front view in elevation of the outlet connector shown inFIGS. 10-13;

FIG. 15 is a top view in cross-section of the outlet connector takenabout line 15-15 in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the outlet connector end cap shown inFIGS. 10-14;

FIG. 17 is a front view in elevation of the end cap shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a top plan view of the end cap shown in FIGS. 16 and 17;

FIG. 19 is a bottom plan view of the end cap shown in FIGS. 16-18;

FIG. 20 is a side view in elevation of the end cap shown in FIGS. 16-19;

FIG. 21 is a side view in elevation of the end cap shown in FIGS. 16-20;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of an outlet connector bank according to arepresentative embodiment;

FIG. 23 is a top plan view of an outlet connector bank according toanother representative embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a side view in elevation of the outlet connector bank shownin FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is a bottom plan view of the outlet connector bank shown inFIGS. 23 and 24;

FIG. 26 is a top plan view of an outlet connector bank according to afurther representative embodiment;

FIG. 27 is a side view in elevation of the outlet connector bank shownin FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a bottom plan view of the outlet connector bank shown inFIGS. 26 and 27; and

FIG. 29 is a perspective view illustrating an outlet connector andmating plug according to another representative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This description provides examples, and is not intended to limit thescope, applicability or configuration of the invention. Rather, theensuing description will provide those skilled in the art with anenabling description for implementing embodiments of the invention.Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements.

Thus, various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add variousprocedures or components as appropriate. For instance, aspects andelements described with respect to certain embodiments may be combinedin various other embodiments. It should also be appreciated that thefollowing systems, devices, and components may individually orcollectively be components of a larger system, wherein other proceduresmay take precedence over or otherwise modify their application.

The following patents and patent applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety: U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,543, entitled“Vertical-Mount Electrical Power Distribution Plugstrip,” issued on May9, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,990,689, entitled “Power Distribution Unit AndMethods Of Making And Use Including Modular Construction AndAssemblies,” issued on Aug. 2, 2011; U.S. Pat. No. 8,494,661, entitled“Power Distribution, Management, and Monitoring Systems,” and issued onJul. 23, 2013; U.S. Pat. No. 8,321,163, entitled “MonitoringPower-Related Parameters in a Power Distribution Unit,” and issued onNov. 27, 2012; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,587,950, entitled “Method andApparatus for Multiple Input Power Distribution to Adjacent Outputs,”and issued on Nov. 19, 2013.

Apparatuses and devices are provided that allow for efficient andflexible distribution of power to equipment located, for example, in anelectrical equipment rack. Traditionally, PDUs have outlets that includean outer jacket around an outlet core. Aspects of the disclosure provideoutlets in a power distribution unit that have such an outer jacketremoved. By removing the outer jacket, such as typically included with aC13 or C19 receptacle for example, the core element of the powerreceptacle remains and allows reduced possible spacing of receptacles,thus allowing for maximization of receptacle density. Such corereceptacles can be mounted on a PCB, sheet metal, molded into a multireceptacle (ganged) module, or mounted at the end of a flexible cord,according to various embodiments, providing flexibility in theconfiguration and manufacturing of such PDUs.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a PDU 100 of an embodiment that includesvarious features of the present disclosure. The PDU 100 includes a PDUhousing 105 and a power input 110 that penetrates the housing 105 andmay be connected to an external power source. Though not by way oflimitation, the power input of this embodiment is a swivel input cordassembly, such as described in patent application Ser. No. 61/675,921,filed on Jul. 26, 2012, and incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety. The PDU 100 according to this embodiment includes housing 105that is vertically mountable in an equipment rack, although it will beunderstood that other form factors may be used, such as a horizontallymountable housing. A plurality of outlet banks 115 are located withinthe housing 105 and are accessible through apertures in a front face ofthe housing 105. The outlet banks 115 will be described in more detailbelow. The PDU 100 of FIG. 1 includes a number of circuit breakers 120that provide over-current protection for one or more associated outletbanks 115. The PDU 100 also includes a communications module 125 thatmay be coupleable with one or more of a local computer, local computernetwork, and/or remote computer network. A display portion 130 may beused to provide a local display of information related to currentoperating parameters of the PDU 100, such as the quantity of currentbeing provided through the input and/or one or more of the outlets.

With reference now to FIG. 2, an outlet bank 115 of an embodiment isdiscussed. The outlet bank 115 is accessible through an aperture in thefront face 200 of the PDU housing 105. The outlet bank 115 includes arecessed surface 205 that is located in an interior portion of housing105, and has a number of power outlets coupled thereto. In thisembodiment, two C19 type connectors 210, and eight C13 type connectors215 are provided in the outlet bank 115. The plurality of outlets 210and 215 include an outlet core only, without an associated outer jacket.The outlet bank 115, according to some embodiments, may be a portion ofan intelligent power module that supplies power to assets that may bemounted into an equipment rack. Such equipment racks are well known, andoften include several individual assets that are used in operation of adata center. As is well known, numerous equipment racks may be includedin a data center, and in various embodiments each asset in eachequipment rack may be monitored for power usage through one or moreassociated intelligent power modules. The recessed surface 205, in someembodiments, includes a surface of a printed circuit board to which thepower outlets are mounted. The recessed surface 205 may, in someembodiments, form a tray for mounting the outlets that seals an internalportion of the housing 105 to provide a substantially air tight internalportion. For example, the power outlets may be mounted to a printedcircuit board that is used to form a seal between an exterior of thehousing 105 and components internal to the housing 105. Such a seal maybe provided, for example, through a frictional fit between a printedcircuit board and internal surfaces of the sides 145 of the housing 105,through a sealant, and/or through a gasket that provides a seal betweenthe housing and a printed circuit board. The internal portion of thehousing 105 may include, for example, power measurement and distributioncomponents, and may be actively cooled.

It will be understood that this embodiment, and other embodimentsdescribed herein as having noted IEC type outlets, are exemplary onlyand that any of various other types of outlets alternatively can beused. For example, the “outlets” can be NEMA type outlets (e.g., NEMA5-15R, NEMA 6-20R, NEMA 6-30R or NEMA 6-50R) or any of various IEC types(e.g., IEC C13 or IEC C19). It also will be understood that all“outlets” in a particular power outlet bank 115, or other module-outletdescribed herein, need not be identical or oriented uniformly along thePDU. It also will be understood that the “outlets” are not limited tothree-prong receptacles; alternatively, one or more of the “outlets” canbe configured for two or more than three prongs in the mating maleconnector. It also will be understood that the “outlets” are not limitedto having female prong receptacles. In any “outlet,” one or more of the“prong receptacles” can be male instead of female connection elements,as conditions or needs indicate. In general, as used herein, female andmale “prong receptacles” are termed “power-connection elements”. Whileoutlet bank 115 of this embodiment includes ten outlets, it will beunderstood that this is but one example and that an outlet bank mayinclude a different number of outlets.

The power outlets 210 and 215 may extend from the recessed surface 205by various relative or absolute distances. For example, an outward ordistal face 225 of the outlets 210 and 215 can be manufactured to extendor terminate 0.5 inches, 1 inch, 1.5 inches, or another predeterminedabsolute distance from the recessed surface 205. As another example, theoutward or distal face 225 of the outlets 210 and 215 can bemanufactured to extend or terminate at a predetermined relative distancefrom the recessed surface 205, in relation to a plane of the front face200 of the PDU housing 105. The relative distance of extension ortermination of the distal face 225 of the outlets can include, accordingto various embodiments: proximate to and below a plane of the front face200, proximate to and above a plane of the front face 200, in line witha plane of the front face 200, substantially below a plane of the frontface 200, and substantially above a plane of the front face 200.

With particular reference to FIG. 1, the PDU housing 105 for an outletmodule may be any suitable housing for such a device, as is known to oneof skill in the art, and may be assembled with other modules in a PDU.Such a housing generally includes a front portion 135 and a rear portion140. The front portion 135 is substantially planar, and the rear portion140 is substantially planar and parallel to the front portion 135. Thehousing 105 also includes longitudinally extending side portions 145 andtransverse end portions 150. The front portion 135, rear portion 140,side portions 145, and end portions 150 are generally orthogonal to eachother in a generally rectangular or box-type configuration. The housing105 can be made of any suitable, typically rigid, material, including,for example, a rigid polymeric (“plastic”) material. In at least certainembodiments, the front and rear portions are made from an electricallyinsulative material, whereas in other embodiments conducting materialsare used for safe ground bonding. The side portions and the end portionsmay be integrally formed, optionally along with the front portion or therear portion. Each outlet 210-215 is interconnected to the power sourcethrough any of a number of well-known connection schemes, such as spade,lug, plug connectors, screw connectors, or other suitable type ofconnector. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of these electricalconnectors can be located inside the housing or outside the housing, inembodiments where the power outlet module includes a housing.

In some embodiments, the apertures in the housing 105 include a lip 220around at least a portion of each aperture. The lip 220 extends over aportion of the recessed surface 205 and may engage with a plug retentiontab that extends from an arm of a plug that may be coupled with anoutlet. In such a manner, plugs may be retainably engaged (or locked)with the PDU 100, and inadvertent disconnections of associated equipmentmay be avoided. FIG. 3 illustrates a plug 300 that may be used to lock apower cord into an outlet bank 115. The plug 300 includes a plug body305, and a flexible cord 310 that extends from the plug body 305. Arms315 extend from the sides of the plug body 305 and each include a plugretention tab 320 that will engage with the lip 220 when the plug 305 isinserted into the outlet bank 115. When it is desired to unplug the plug300, a user may squeeze the arms 315 toward the plug body 305 and removethe plug 300. FIG. 4 illustrates an outlet bank 115 with plugs 300coupled with the outlets 215. In this embodiment, plugs 325 are providedwith similar arms and retention tabs and coupled with outlets 210. Inthis particular example, cords for the C13 outlets are not included inthe illustration, and are shown partially for the C19 outlets, forpurposes of providing a more clear illustration.

As mentioned above, a PDU may have numerous different arrangements andnumbers of outlets. FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary alternatearrangement of outlets in outlet bank 500. In this particular example,eight C13 outlets 505 are provided, along with four C19 outlets 510.Such an arrangement may provide a relatively high density of poweroutlets as compared to traditional PDUs, thereby providing enhancedefficiency and space usage in many applications in which a relativelyhigh number of computing equipment components may be present in anequipment rack, for example.

In some embodiments, such as illustrated in FIG. 6, an outlet bank 600may include a recessed surface 605 from which a number of power outlets610 may extend that are coupled with a length of flexible insulated cord615. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the outlets 610 extend through anassociated aperture 607 in housing 105 and may provide a connection thatis movable to some degree relative to the PDU housing 105. Thus, a usermay be provided with additional flexibility in making connections withthe outlet bank 600 of such a PDU. The flexible cord 615 penetrates therecessed surface 605 and is coupled with a power source in an interiorof the housing 105. The interior portion of the housing 105, in suchembodiments, may include a cavity to receive a portion of the flexiblecord 615, such that the outlets 610 are extendable away from the frontface of the housing 105, and retractable toward the front face of thehousing 105. In some embodiments, a user may simply push a cord into thehousing 105 to retract the cord, or pull a cord away from the housing105 to extend the cord. Excess cord may be stored within the cavity ofthe housing 105 by simply allowing the cord to bunch up within thecavity, or a retraction/extension mechanism such as a spool or cylindermay be provided in the cavity that may receive the cord. Similarly asdiscussed above, a PDU may have numerous different arrangements andnumbers of outlets, and FIG. 6 illustrates one of numerous differentavailable arrangements of outlets in such an outlet bank 600. Sucharrangements may provide a relatively high density of power outlets ascompared to traditional PDUs, thereby providing enhanced efficiency andspace usage in many applications in which a relatively high number ofcomputing equipment components may be present in an equipment rack, forexample. In some embodiments, PDUs including outlet cores such asdescribed herein may provide significant reductions in the area requiredfor each outlet, with some embodiments providing approximately a 40%reduction in area required for C13 outlets and approximately a 30%reduction in area required for C19 outlets.

With reference now to FIGS. 7-9, a PDU 700 according to various otherembodiments is illustrated. The PDU 700, includes a PDU housing 705 anda power input 710 that penetrates the housing 705 and may be connectedto an external power source. The power input 710 of this embodiment is afixed position power input, although a swivel input cord assembly, suchas illustrated in FIG. 1, may be used according to various embodiments.The PDU 700, according to this embodiment, includes housing 705 that isvertically mountable in an equipment rack, although it will beunderstood that other form factors may be used, such as a horizontallymountable housing. A plurality of outlet banks 715 are coupled with thehousing 705 and include a plurality of rotatable outlets 735 that extendaway from the housing 705. The outlet banks 715 are illustrated inadditional detail in FIGS. 8-9. The PDU 700 of FIG. 7 includes a numberof circuit breakers 720 that provide over-current protection for one ormore associated outlet banks 715. The PDU 700 also includes acommunications module 725 that may be coupleable with one or more of alocal computer, local computer network, and/or remote computer network.A display portion 730 may be used to provide a local display ofinformation related to current operating parameters of the PDU 700, suchas the quantity of current being provided through the input and/or oneor more of the outlets.

With reference now to FIGS. 8-9, an outlet bank 715 of an embodiment isdiscussed in more detail. In this embodiment, the outlet bank 715includes a number of rotatable outlets 735 that are coupled with anoutlet enclosure housing 740 and outlet shaft housing 745 within theoutlet enclosure housing 740. The outlet shaft housing 745 receives acord coupled with each outlet 735 and provides for rotation of theoutlet 735 around or relative to a longitudinal axis 750 of the PDUhousing 705. Each outlet 735 is secured to the outlet shaft housing 745,which may rotate relative to the outlet enclosure housing 740. In someembodiments, the outlet shaft housing 745 includes a cavity to receive aportion of the cord from each outlet 735, providing the ability toextend or retract outlets 735 relative to the outlet shaft housing 745.The exit point of the cord from the outlet shaft housing 745 may beoriented such that it limits, reduces, or minimizes the movement of theconductors within outlet shaft housing 745 and the associated connectionbetween the conductors and a power source connection within housing 705.Additionally, the outlet shaft housing 745 may provide strain relief forthe cord. In some embodiments, each of the rotatable outlets 735 arecoupled with the PDU housing 705 in a manner similar as the rotatableassembly described in U.S. Patent Application No. 61/675,921, filed onJul. 26, 2012, entitled “Multi-Position Input Cord Assembly for a PowerDistribution Unit,” the entire disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 7-9, outlets 735 are illustrated as IEC-typeoutlets, although it will be readily understood that any of variousother types of outlets alternatively can be used. For example, the“outlets” can be NEMA type outlets (e.g., NEMA 5-15R, NEMA 6-20R, NEMA6-30R or NEMA 6-50R) or any of various IEC types (e.g., IEC C13 or IECC19). It also will be understood that all “outlets” in a particularpower outlet bank 115, or other module-outlet described herein, need notbe identical or oriented uniformly along the PDU.

Outlet connector 800 shown in FIG. 10 includes an outlet core 802 and anend cap 804 connected to the outlet core. With further reference to FIG.11, outlet connector 800 includes a plurality of electrical terminals806 and 808. Electrical terminals 806 and 808 are positioned between theoutlet core 802 and the end cap 804. Connector 800 includes two outerelectrical terminals 806 and a middle electrical terminal 808. In someembodiments, electrical terminals 806 and 808 have the same constructionalthough middle terminal 808 is positioned to face the oppositedirection of electrical terminals 806. Thus, although the electricalterminals are aligned with respect to each other, the middle connectiontab is offset from the outer electrical terminal's connection tabs. Inother embodiments, the terminals may be different sizes. For example, inthis embodiment middle terminal 808 is larger than the outer terminals806.

In some embodiments, electrical terminals 806 and 808 are constructedfrom suitable electrically conductive materials such as tin, copper,gold, silver, and the like. Multiple materials can be used incombination. For example, the terminals can be constructed of tin with asuitable coating material. In one embodiment, the terminals comprisecopper with a tin plating. In some embodiments, the terminals such asouter terminals 806 are formed from a single piece of conductivematerial by bending contacts 812 and 814 away from connection tab 810.Although the electrical terminals are aligned with respect to eachother, the middle connection tab is offset from the outer electricalterminals' connection tabs. Contacts 812 and 814 are bent inward towardseach other such that when a mating contact (not shown) is inserted intothe electrical terminal, the contacts 812 and 814 are urged toward themating terminal. Accordingly, in some embodiments it is desirable toform the electrical terminals 806 and 808 from a conductive resilientspring-like material. Connection tabs 810 extend through and beyond theinput side 816 of the connector core 802. Accordingly, contacts 812 and814 are positioned toward the output side 818 of the outlet core 802. Itcan be appreciated from the figure that electrical terminals 806 and 808are configured as female receptacles. In other embodiments theelectrical terminals 806 and 808 may be configured as male terminals ora combination of male and female terminals.

As shown in FIG. 11, end cap 804 is insertable into cavity 843 formed inoutlet core 802. Internal indexing features 846 and 844 help ensure thatend cap 804 is inserted into cavity 843 in the correct orientation.Features 844 and 846 act in cooperation with indexing relief feature 842formed into the side of cavity 843. In some embodiments, the outletconnector 800 is mountable to a printed circuit board or other surfacewith mounting screws 820.

As shown in FIG. 12, mounting screws 820 are each screwed into a boss824 which protrudes from mounting flange 822. Mounting flange 822 isadjacent the input side 816 of the outlet core 802 and providesstabilization of the connector 800 against its mounting surface.Mounting boss 824 extends from flange 822 to help position and locatethe outlet connector 800 on its mounting surface such as a printedcircuit board. As shown in FIG. 13, end cap 804 includes a pair oflatches 826 that engage ledges 828 formed in outlet core 802.Accordingly, latches 826 help prevent end cap 804 from being removedfrom the outlet core 802.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, mounting flange 822 includes notches 838and 840 positioned adjacent corresponding terminals. Notches 838 and 840allow for visible inspection of terminal solder joints and also allowflux residue to be removed. Referring to FIG. 15, outlet core 802includes a plurality of aligned apertures 830 and 832. In someembodiments, cavities 834 and 836 are interposed between the outerapertures 830 and the middle aperture 832. As shown in the figure, theelectrical terminals are positioned within the apertures. Outlet core802 also includes external indexing features 850. In this embodiment,the external indexing features 850 are in the form of chamfers.

As shown in FIGS. 16-21, end cap 804 includes a body portion 860insertable into the cavity 843 of outlet core 802 (see FIG. 11) and aflange 862. End cap 804 includes a plurality of apertures 854 and 856extending through the cap. Outer apertures 854 correspond to the outerapertures 830 of outlet core 802 (see FIG. 15). Similarly, middleaperture 856 corresponds to the middle aperture 832 of outlet core 802(see FIG. 15). End cap 804 also includes a pair of indexing features 852which correspond to the indexing features 850 of the outlet core 802(see FIG. 15). Latches 826, as shown in FIG. 17, include ramped surfaces864 and a latch surface 866. As shown in FIG. 19, end cap 804 includescavities 858 interposed between the outer apertures 854 and middleaperture 856. As mentioned above, end cap 804 includes internal indexingfeatures 844 and 846. As shown in the figure, indexing features 844extend beyond body portion 860 further than indexing feature 846.Indexing feature 844 corresponds to the indexing cutout 842 of the core802 (see FIG. 15).

In some embodiments, the end cap 804 can be color coded to indicate anoutput capacity (e.g., amperage) or phase configuration of theassociated outlet core. In some embodiments, the end cap 804 has acontrasting color with respect to the outlet core. In some embodiments,the end cap 804 is a different color than the outlet core. The disclosedtechnology can be used with any suitable phase configuration such assingle, dual, and/or three phase configurations, including polyphaseconnections described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,541,906, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Outlet connector bank 900, as shown in FIG. 22, includes a unitary body902 having a surrounding sidewall 903 with a flange 904 extendingtherefrom. The unitary body 902 includes a plurality of outlet cores 906and an unobstructed space 910 between adjacent pairs of the plurality ofoutlet cores 906. As with the outlet connectors described above, eachoutlet core includes at least three aligned apertures. The plurality ofelectrical terminals are positioned each in a corresponding one of theplurality of aligned apertures. Each outlet core includes an end cap 908connected to and surrounding the electrical terminals of the outletcores 906. Surrounding sidewall 903 includes a plurality of latches 912to facilitate retaining the outlet bank in a corresponding chassis. Thesidewall also includes slots 905 to receive the retainers of a matingplug, such as the retention arms and tabs (315, 320) described abovewith respect to FIG. 3. The retainers of mating plugs positionedadjacent latches 912 can engage openings 913.

As shown in FIG. 23, outlet connector bank 900 includes a recessedsurface 914 which is part of unitary body 902 from which the pluralityof outlet cores 906 extend toward the surrounding flange 904. Eachoutlet core 906 includes the plurality of aligned apertures 916 and 918.The apertures include outboard apertures 916 and middle aperture 918.Electrical terminals 920 are positioned in the outboard apertures 916while middle terminal 922 is positioned in the middle aperture 918. Asshown in FIGS. 24 and 25, the middle terminals 922 are ganged togethervia a circuit rail 924. Outboard terminals 920 are not ganged togetherand are available for individual connection. FIGS. 26 through 28illustrate another embodiment of an outlet connector bank 1000 similarto that described with respect to FIGS. 23 through 25. However, in thisembodiment the outboard terminals 1020 are ganged together viacorresponding circuit rails 1026. Middle terminals 1022 are gangedtogether via circuit rail 1024. Outboard terminals 1020 extend throughapertures 1016 while middle terminal 1022 extends through aperture 1018.Although the outlet connector banks described with respect to FIGS. 25through 28 describe ganging at least some of the terminals together, inother embodiments all of the terminals may be left unganged.

Outlet connector 1100 shown in FIG. 29 includes an outlet core 1102 andan end cap 1104 connected to the outlet core. In this embodiment, theoutlet core 1102 and the end cap 1104 include a pair of grooves orchannels 1106 to help ensure that plug 1110 is properly connected to theoutlet connector 1100. Plug 1110 includes mating terminals 1116 andindexing rails 1112 configured to mate with channels 1106. Plug 1110also includes retainers 1114 configured to engage slots 905 or openings913 (see FIG. 22).

Embodiments described herein provide several benefits relative totraditional PDUs having outlets that include an outer jacket around anoutlet core. By removing the outer jacket typically included with a C13or C19 receptacle, for example, the core element of the power receptacleremains and allows for reduced possible spacing of receptacles, thusallowing for increased or maximized receptacle density. Such corereceptacles can be mounted on a PCB, sheet metal, or molded into a multireceptacle (ganged) module, according to various embodiments, providingflexibility in the configuration and manufacturing of such PDUs.Additionally, core receptacles can be mounted in single or dual rows, inany orientation, to further increase density. Furthermore, such enhanceddensity in PDU outlets can provide reduced PDU volume, while alsoappropriately configured cord plugs including custom plug configurationsand industry standard power cords and providing optional locking forpower cords. In embodiments where the outlets extend away from the PDUhousing, either through a recessed surface or a rotatable connection,additional flexibility and versatility are provided to users of PDUs,because, for example, the outlets can be uniformly spaced along thelength of the PDU, which is desirable in that interconnecting powercords to equipment located in an equipment rack can then be the samelength. PDUs such as those described herein, according to variousembodiments, provide several advantages over traditional PDUs. Forexample, high outlet density PDUs may contain the maximum possiblenumber of outlets per unit volume, which equates to maximum or increasedvalue to a PDU customer or user. High outlet density PDUs may work withindustry standard power cords, thus requiring no additional cost that isincurred when put into service. High outlet density PDUs may have asmaller volume than conventional outlet PDU's, and can thus be installedinto a wider variety of commercially available equipment racks. Highoutlet density PDUs allow construction of an air tight enclosure, whichcan then be actively, cooled using forced air or other fluids. Highoutlet density PDUs allow for modular, highly variable assemblymethodologies, not easily achieved with conventional outlets. It will benoted that this list of various advantages is not exhaustive orexclusive, and numerous different advantages and efficiencies may beachieved, as will be recognized by one of skill in the art.

It should be noted that the systems and devices discussed above areintended merely to be examples. It must be stressed that variousembodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, it should be appreciated that,in alternative embodiments, features described with respect to certainembodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Differentaspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similarmanner. Also, it should be emphasized that technology evolves and, thus,many of the elements are exemplary in nature and should not beinterpreted to limit the scope of the invention.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. For example, well-known circuits,structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary detail inorder to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those ofskill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions,and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of theinvention. For example, the above elements may merely be a component ofa larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over orotherwise modify the application of the invention. Also, a number ofsteps may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements areconsidered. Accordingly, the above description should not be taken aslimiting the scope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. An outlet connector bank, comprising: a unitary bodyincluding: a recessed surface; a sidewall surrounding said recessedsurface; and a plurality of outlet cores extending from said recessedsurface, each of said outlet cores including a plurality of aperturesand a lower flange which is disposed on the recessed surface; and aplurality of terminals each positioned in a corresponding one of theplurality of apertures.
 2. The outlet connector bank of claim 1 whereinsaid plurality of outlet cores are arranged in an array.
 3. The outletconnector bank of claim 1 wherein selected ones of the terminals of thearray of outlet cores are electrically ganged together.
 4. The outletconnector bank of claim 1 wherein said unitary body comprises aone-piece molded plastic construction.
 5. The outlet connector bank ofclaim 1 wherein said outlet cores are integral with said recessedsurface.
 6. The outlet connector bank of claim 1 wherein said sidewallincludes an associated sidewall flange.
 7. The outlet connector bank ofclaim 1 wherein said recessed surface is a base of the unitary body andis comprised of non-electrically conductive material.
 8. A powerdistribution unit, comprising: a housing; at least one power inputcoupled with said housing and connectable to an associated externalpower source; at least one outlet bank located at least partially withinsaid housing, said at least one outlet bank comprising a unitary bodycomprising a one-piece molded plastic construction, said unitary bodyincluding: a recessed surface; a sidewall surrounding said recessedsurface; and a plurality of outlet cores extending from said recessedsurface, each of said outlet cores including a plurality of aperturesand adapted to accommodate an associated electrical plug; a plurality ofterminals each positioned in a corresponding one of the plurality ofapertures; and at least one plug retention edge associated with each ofsaid cores, said at least one plug retention edge located inwardly ofsaid surrounding sidewall and separate from said unitary body, each plugretention edge adapted to engage a plug retention tab on an associatedelectrical plug to resist removal of said electrical plug when coupledto its associated outlet core.
 9. The power distribution unit of claim 8wherein said housing includes at least one aperture for accommodatingsaid at least one outlet connector bank.
 10. The power distribution unitof claim 8 wherein said plurality of outlet cores are organized as anarray, and wherein selected ones of the terminals of the array of outletcores are electrically ganged together.
 11. The power distribution unitof claim 8 wherein said housing has a vertical form factor.
 12. Thepower distribution unit of claim 8 wherein said housing has a horizontalform factor.
 13. The power distribution unit of claim 8 wherein each ofsaid outlet cores is integral with said recessed surface.
 14. The powerdistribution unit of claim 8 wherein each of said outlet cores includesa flange which is disposed on said recessed surface.
 15. The powerdistribution unit of claim 8 wherein said at least one plug retentionedge is part of a lip which extends over a portion of said recessedsurface.
 16. The power distribution unit of claim 15 wherein said lip iscoextensive with at least a portion of said sidewall.
 17. A powerdistribution unit, comprising: a housing; at least one power inputcoupled with said housing and connectable to an associated externalpower source; at least one outlet bank located at least partially withinsaid housing, said at least one outlet bank comprising a unitary bodyincluding: a recessed surface; a sidewall surrounding said recessedsurface; and a plurality of outlet cores extending from said recessedsurface, each of said outlet cores including a plurality of aperturesand an associated flange which is disposed on said recessed surface; aplurality of terminals each positioned in a corresponding one of theplurality of apertures; and at least one lip projecting toward at leastone of said plurality of outlet cores.